


Aether Cafe

by alienpinball77



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions
Genre: Angst, Drama, F/F, Honestly it's not as bad as it sounds, I swear, It's mostly just romance and angst, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Psychological Horror, Romance, time skip
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-07
Updated: 2019-01-14
Packaged: 2019-10-06 05:14:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17339240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alienpinball77/pseuds/alienpinball77
Summary: Years after breaking up, Moon runs into Lillie at a cafe the latter works at. Moon is quick to realize she is still incredibly gay for Lillie but Lillie wants nothing to do with it.





	1. Prologue

Wind brushed over Alola, lacking any sound or force to sway the greenery of the isles, as Lillie sat on her perch in Aether Foundation looking out on Mount Lanakila. She hadn’t been on the small balcony she used to cry since she had run away, not having any need to cry since and preferring the larger balcony about twenty feet away for relaxation, but she and her fancy white dress and ruined makeup were here now as she clutched onto her confused-but-trying-to-be-comforting Alolan Vulpix and letting her tears freeze in its fur.

“Six years,” Lillie sobbed, “I’ve wasted six whole years of my life with nothing to show for it.” She pulled away from the ice fox for a moment, took a look at it, and held it tight. “Except for you, Snowy. Nothing came from this except catching you.” She turned her head to the window and drunk in the moonlight. “And I bet she hasn’t even realized it, it still hasn’t sunk in or maybe she hasn’t even gotten back there yet. It doesn’t matter either way because no matter how much I--” She froze and looked down to Snowy, “I did warn her, right?”

Snowy yawned.

Lillie scrunched her eyebrows. “Well, even if I didn’t, she should have seen it coming! It’s just what happens when you keep doing things like this! I deserve better! I--” She sniffled. “I--” She coughed. “I--” She looked at the giftwrapped shoebox by her feet and broke into a sob once more. “I really screwed up, didn’t I?”

_Knock knock._

Lillie’s tears stopped for a moment as she cautiously stood up and walked back inside her room. She hadn’t told anyone she had returned early, in fact she did her best to avoid anyone seeing her running makeup to the point of flying to the lower dock and ducking around the main entrance. She limped toward the door, Snowy held in one hand and indecision in the other as it wrestled between reaching out and holding to her side to pretend she wasn’t home. However, a decision made itself as she wrapped her hand around the knob, turned it, and pulled with closed eyes, half wanting her now ex-girlfriend to be waiting on the other side.

“Sis?”

Lillie opened her eyes to find her brother draped in a lab coat, hair a wreck, and eyes bloodshot waiting in the piercing light of the hallway. “Oh, hello Gladion. What’s wrong?”

Gladion frowned. “Well that’s what I want to know. I was trying to get some sleep after work, but then I heard you out there crying; I couldn’t just leave that alone.” He invited himself in. “Geeze, you didn’t even turn a light on, just went straight to that little balcony.” He reached a hand out, retracted it for a second, then placed it on Lillie’s shoulder and tried to find a medium between a comforting smile and serious grimmace. “What happened?”

“Nothing.”

“Snowy’s back wouldn’t be smothered in mascara if it were nothing.”

Lillie looked down to the creature in her arm to find black and blue smears over white fur; she looked back to her brother to find a stern glare. “Nothing important, I mean.” She turned away to wash her pet.

“Then why aren’t you with Moon? Didn’t you have a date tonight?”

Lillie froze in her tracks. She knew he would bring her up, he was smart enough to figure it out, but to hear her name mentioned so casually after what had just happened-- “We did but it fell through.” She paused. “Same as always. Nothing different than usual.”

Gladion sighed. “You know what, let me just ask it: Did you and Moon break up?”

Straight, sharp, to the point; like an arrow to the heart. It took Lillie a moment to hold back more tears and gather a response, what little of one she managed. “I’d rather not talk about it.” She once more walked to the sink of her room’s kitchen and placed her pet in the sink before turning back to her brother. “You can grab something from the fridge if you like.”

“Can I turn the light on first? It’s nearly pitch black in here.”

Lillie fell over herself reaching to hurridly flip the nearest switch. “Sorry! I don’t really mind the dark too much because of all the night flying I do with Nebby and I forget other people don’t have as good night vision so--”

“D- Don’t worry, it’s fine.” He carefully stepped toward the fridge, mulling over what to say next as he opened the door. There was water, milk, some condiments, a small assortment of fruits and vegetables, and a slew of cookies covered in saran wrap. “Whoa, did you make all of these yourself?” The words slipped out without a second thought making him cringe because his second thought was she was helped by--

“Yeah, actually.” Lillie smiled for the first time since he’d entered the room. “I made some other stuff too in the pantries. Though they’ve probably gone bad since I come back here so rarely.” She turned the hot water on and pulled some Pokemon shampoo from under the sink; Snowy mewled. “You know how I wanted to be a chef when we were kids. I’m nowhere near that level but baking is still fun.” Her smile dropped as she began to lather the fox. “I think it might be what I want to do next.”

Gladion approached. “What do you mean?”

“I... gotta do something with my life, right? What am I, twenty-two now and the closest thing to a job I’ve ever had was being Kukui’s assistant?” She paused for a moment. “I’m being serious, am I twenty-one or twenty-two? I know I was born around eleven but I haven’t checked the time since ten.”

“It’s after eleven.”

“Thanks.” Lillie turned the water off and started to dry Snowy. “Anyway, I’m tired of just always being on the sidelines since we lost Mom. Heck, even then I was just there to make sure she got treatment and I barely did anything. I need to do something for myself, I need to make my own future for myself.” She took a deep breath, as well as the towel off her pet. “You mind if I stay here until I do?”

Gladion laughed. “Listen, I know you’re not here much anymore but you still own a good bit of Aether Foundation.” His laugh continued for a moment until he froze. “And you’re family, of course. You’re always welcome here.”

Lillie looked back to her brother and returned a chuckle. “Yeah, yeah. I get what you mean. Don’t worry about--”

_POP._

_CRACKLE._

_BOOM._

Lillie picked Snowy up as both looked around the room, Gladion did as well but focused between the room’s entrance and the larger balcony, “The hell?”

_BANG._

Gladion stood for a second, a hand to his head as he thought, then gasped and raced off to the balcony. Lillie followed close, racing faster than her thoughts of what the sound could be raced through her mind, until both she and her heart both stopped as she looked unto the sky.

The night sky shone with incredible color as wonderous explosions echoed in the distance from the fireworks over Ula’ula Island. Fireworks that had only ever rang out once before. Fireworks of hope. Fireworks of joy. Fireworks of triumph and the coming of the new age.

Fireworks of a new champion.

* * *

A crash rang through the dirty old apartment, shocking its only human inhabitant awake. The woman coughed on her own drool as she flung up from the couch she slept on, doing her best to throw her blankets off but instead managed to get even more tangled in it than she already was and fell onto the floor. After a moment’s struggle, she managed to pull the blanket from her face and look to the source of the sound.

In a puddle of shattered glass, a frame sat holding a picture of a younger version of the woman, a serious-looking boy, a nervous girl, and a boy caught between laughing and shoveling pastries in his mouth. “Dammit,” the woman muttered as she picked herself up, “Which one of you did this?” She looked around the room between the Mismagius, Lilligant, several evolutions of Eevee, Glalie, and Blissey that ran about as they woke up and hobbled about the room. “Blissey, could you clean that up while I get everyone’s breakfast ready?”

Blissey hopped into action and ran off to find a broom and dustpan as the woman walked to the mess, careful to not step on any broken glass, and picked up the frame itself. As she looked at the photo her younger self looked back. “Dang. How long ago was this?” She walked back to her couch and sat down, still staring into the frame. “It had to have been right after Lillie came back to Alola and that was-- fourteen years ago?” Her gaze drifted to the nervous girl. “We were so young… Lillie and Hau and Gladion and… me.” She broke into a wavering smile before she looked away from the photo. “Why did I have this out? I don’t even remember framing it.”

Moon placed the photo on the coffee table as she pulled herself to a stand and looked to the Pokemon in the room. “Okay,” she mumbled, “Who’s ready for breakfast?” She grabbed a large bag of food from behind the couch and began to pour it into several bowls before walking back to the fridge and grabbing something for herself. “Storebrand Pokechow for you all and an apple,” she sat at the couch and opened a medication bottle, poured out its content onto her palm, and sighed, “And the last of my mood stabilizers for me.”

She opened her mouth to throw the pill in before freezing. “Wait, I need some water for this.” She once more got off the couch and walked to the pantry, grabbing a glass and twisting the knob on the sink to let the cool water flow. Only it didn’t. Moon stared blankly at the non-existent water. “The water bill was due today, wasn’t it?” She put a hand to her head and groaned. “Great, just great.” She popped the pill in and took a chunk out of her apple to chase it down before looking to the Pokemon now trying to eat out of the bowls of the ones who ate slower. “But that doesn’t help you all, now does it?” She turned back around to the fridge. “Do I have any water bottles left?”

There were not.

With hollowed mind and expression, Moon walked to the door and promptly slammed her head into it. And then she did it again. And again. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,” she stopped slamming her head into the door and instead looked upward, “Fuck! What the fuck else could possibly go wrong?!” She let out a deep breath and looked down to find a small pile of mail slid under the doorway, on top a letter with the words ‘Eviction Imminent’ stamped on top. “I just had to open my damn mouth.” She picked up the letters and threw them on the coffee table as she walked back.

Moon slumped over on her couch. “So this is how it ends.” She put her hands to her face. “No matter what I try I can’t make rent or even take care of all of you like a decent owner should.” Blissey ran up to her and offered an egg, but Moon didn’t notice. “I used to be somebody, dammit! I used to have a job, I used to have a girlfriend, I used to have friends--” She raised her head and screamed to the ceiling. “I used to be the champion!”

A stomping sound came from above followed by a gruff voice. “I know! And I used to be asleep!”

“S-- Sorry!” She lowered her face back into her hands. “And now I’m just gonna die in this rundown apartment. I’m gonna have to put everyone up for adoption just to make sure they get their basic needs. I’m gonna be completely alone when Mom moves. I’m gonna have nothing left.” Blissey smacked her. Moon looked at the fuzzy pink orb and, after a moment, grabbed it into a hug. “Sorry, I know you know what I’m feeling; I really shouldn’t be thinking stuff like that. I just need to get out and clear my head. I guess,” she looked over the mail again, a postcard advertising offering jobs somewhere called the ‘Aether Cafe’ catching her eye, “I need a change of pace.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, after not updating that other fic because of writing myself into a corner about the main plot, I'm back with a new fic that doesn't go as much off the rails but still goes pretty off the rails by the end of it.
> 
> I can't promise weekly updates but my New Year's Resolution is to write a lot more so trying to keep up with writing a fanfic is a good way to start.
> 
> Also I've never actually watched the Sun & Moon anime but I have seen gifs of Lillie and Snowy and I absolutely needed to put that in the fic.
> 
> See you all next time for the chapter spoiled in the description.


	2. Re-Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Moon goes for a swim, grumbles about a flat earther, and wishes she's wearing a fake mustache.

Moon looked down at the postcard in her hand again as she walked. The postcard showed a photo of a steel building that, while standing out harshly against the sand of Melemele Beach which it opened out to, blended into the backdrop of Hau’oli City where it sat in front of. To the left of the photo was a brief bit of text saying “Aether Foundation: Now Open and Hiring Applicants” as well as the exact street location of the building. While Moon knew the surrounding area by heart as she once lived there, she’d found that Alola mismatched what she remembered since she stopped going out much. But still, it only took a quick glance in front of her to confirm it was where she thought.

The crowd on the beach was small, most of everyone being out at the water or sunbathing instead of paying attention to the shiny new building on the beach’s edge. Still, there were some who meandered toward it and sat down for a drink, either passing by on the street and gaining interest or stopping in after being in the sun on the beach for too long. Moon briefly thought about trying to disguise her need for a job application as a passing interest like everyone else’s interest in the cafe was, but she soon reminded herself that it was both a non-issue to be looking for a job and also vital that she get a job.

On the other hand she wasn’t able to shower today.

Within the next ten seconds she had found herself in the water, letting the salty spray wash away any evidence that she needed to bathe more than she would after a dip in the sea. She wasn’t exactly dressed for swimming, having put on the most formal clothes that one of her pets hadn’t turned into a makeshift potty pad, but with her wearing shorts anyway she could probably act like she just didn’t have her swimsuit clean. At least, this was what she used to justify the decision as she had followed through with it before she could realize it was a terrible idea.

Moon started to swim from around the beach’s midpoint to its far end. While she wasn’t the best swimmer in Alola, or really even trained in it for that matter, the jobs she’d had and subsequently were fired from after losing the Championship had at least made her stronger. For instance, there was the job as a Pokechow company’s delivery loader and driver that improved her upper body strength due to lifting boxes and also taught her that companies don’t care about an abandoned, starving Eevee left in the rain (who was also hungry enough to eat several boxes of Pokechow without Moon noticing). Or how about that lawn mowing service that fired her after she refused to disturb a Caterpie’s home in the ground? Or how about--

She stopped swimming and took a deep breath, held it, then slowly let it out. _Calm down, Moon,_ she thought to herself, _The stress is getting to you again._ She started back up once more and began to repeat what she had thought to herself to keep from freaking out on the boat ride here. _Lana and Mallow lent you water bottles, you should be good for the next week. You can ask Mom for some money… again… so you don’t get evicted and can have water again. Everything will be fine until you get your paycheck and then you’re set._ She arrived near the cafe and began to swim to shore. _Go in, order a drink, compliment the cafe, ask for an application. Just play it cool._

While the cafe’s exterior was silver and shiney like almost everything else made by Aether, the interior was friendlier and inviting, decorated with flowers and wooden tables to make it feel more natural and using the shaved-out middle third of its front in lieu of windows to look out onto the beach. If Moon had to guess, the exterior was only because the building was so new they didn’t get a chance to decorate it to be as nice as the interior before it opened. For the first time that day, Moon smiled as she though something might turn up right for once.

And then she cringed as a voice came out of the blue to pierce into her like a knife in the back; cruel, unexpected, and sharp enough to kill. A voice she hadn’t heard in years, one that belonged to a person that, over all else, she had grown to fear.

“Look, you’re twisting my words around,” said the man in the trenchcoat on the television, “I’m not saying we should all be paranoid, what I’m saying is that we should all be very cautious of the people we hold the closest to us, maybe even ourselves. We do not know what this is capable of.”

“Crackpot,” Moon muttered under her breath before looking around the cafe. There were no employees around that she could see, but there was a small sign to the left of her that read ‘Please sit down and wait to be served. :)’. A bit tacky, but it still served its purpose as Moon did just that, taking a seat by the side of the entrance. She pulled out a chair, squished down into it, and pulled out her wallet. While the wallet itself was soaked, the cards inside were waterproof and Alola’s currency was coins anyway so it didn’t much matter there. After shuffling the coins around and glancing at the menu above the bar, she confirmed she had enough money for a glass of orange juice and the boat ride home.

 _The last of my money_ . She sighed. _Whatever I do from here, it better count to me getting a job._

“Welcome to the Aether Cafe,” came an overly cheery voice to her left, “You look like you’ve been swimming, may I suggest a berry drink to help you recover your energy?”

“Actually could I get,” she looked to her waitress, “Lillie?”

Lillie smiled. She’s grown a bit. A lot. “Yep.” She cut her hair. When’d she do that? It felt good to be smiled at, especially by her. “I guess it’s not too unusual for a stranger to recognize me, but do you mind if I ask where from?” She seemed bouncier than before. Her words were a knife in the heart. She still wore her hair in a ponytail.

As the tornado of thoughts began to focus itself together Moon realized four things: Lillie was here, Lillie _worked_ here, if she ended up working here then Lillie would be her co-worker, and, temporarily the most important thing to Moon: _She doesn’t recognize me._ She stared at the blonde girl. _I know it’s been awhile, but I still look the same. Right?_

“Oh,” Lillie put the pen she was holding to her chin, “Sorry, I interrupted you. What would you like to order?”

Moon quickly looked away after she realized she’d been staring, not that Lillie had noticed, and glumly looked at the table. “I’ll have an orange juice.” _Sorry Lillie, I’m gonna have to lie to you until I can get that application and tunit into the manager. I really need this._ “And could you change the channel? That guy on the TV gives me the creeps.”

“Sorry, my coworker likes _PMZ_ so we have it on when it’s showing,” Lillie looked to the television, “Besides, it looks like it’s changing segments anyway.”

Moon leaned past Lillie to confirm that the scene was starting to fade. However, as the headline for the next segment began to pop up, Lillie’s smile and any hope Moon held in her heart did as well. ‘An Interview With Alola’s First Champion: The Rise and Fall’, it read.

 _Dammit, dammit, dammit._ Moon gritted her teeth. _I forgot I did that interview. And those bastards still haven’t paid me for it!_

After another second, Moon’s headshot began to fade in on screen as well. No matter if she didn’t look like she had six years ago, that headshot was taken only last month. “Crap,” Moon let out under her breath.

Lillie turned back to Moon, shock or disgust or both radiating from her face as she glared down. “Moon?”

Moon smacked her head onto the table and waved a hand to her ex. “Hey Lillie,” she droned out, “How’ve you been?” She closed her eyes and silently hoped to just be teleported somewhere far, far away. Hell, she’d take an Ultra Wormhole, but after a moment of silence, Moon looked back up.

Lillie stood in place, somewhat trembling. However after a second or two, she swallowed, stiffened up, and said. “Sorry, I’m not doing this,” she turned around, “I’ll send someone else out with your drink, you have it, pay for it, then get out.” And then she walked away.

Moon simply just ground her face back into the table.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Technically, an orange is a berry so she ended up ordering a berry drink anyway.
> 
> Really makes you think.
> 
> Next time, Moon tries to salvage the situation but gets berated by a girl who watches gossip shows for fun.


End file.
